


sunshine & happiness

by darwinsdonut



Category: Red vs. Blue
Genre: Background Nork, Dyslexic Caboose, Fluffy, M/M, Modern AU, Oneshot, The Hobbit - Freeform, coffee shop AU, pastry train
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-08
Updated: 2018-08-08
Packaged: 2019-06-23 18:27:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,702
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15612309
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/darwinsdonut/pseuds/darwinsdonut
Summary: Donut is tired of college and in need of an escape.Caboose has a hard time reading.They meet in the same coffee shop & it's pretty gay.





	sunshine & happiness

It had been a _long, hard_ day. 

And Donut liked a lot of things long and hard- but not his day. 

His essay was too long and cramming just didn't seem to work for him anymore. It just left a gaping hole where the words once were and nothing good to fill it. But, screw it- at least there were coffee shops! 

This one was a hole-in-the-wall and one Donut intended to explore thoroughly. The colors were soft, pastel, complimented by a white grand piano on a platform in the back corner, opposite from the bar. Donut approached the barista to find him midway through a fight with his coworker. 

"York, that's not the part that matters. What _matters_ is that _you_ are good to the _customer._ Not how they feel about you, or how they felt about you, or how they felt you." 

"Whatever, you're just salty because no one's feeling _you."_

The blonde one, who had first spoke and appeared to be in some sort of managerial position, released a long sigh. "Okay. York. This has been your _warning._ Try this guy. Be _nice."_

York rolled his eyes- or, one of them. The other looked a little... Anyway. He faced Donut and Donut put on his bright-and-happy face, hoping to cut this poor guy some slack from his overbearing and probably right manager. 

"Hello, sir, how can I help you," York said in a bored voice, sending a jaded glare to his manager, who responded with a stern look. 

"I just need a medium vanilla iced coffee with two tablespoons of sugar and a dash of soy milk!" 

York stared at him and his eye twitched. He mouthed, _And a what-_ and then stopped himself. Donut pretended he couldn't read lips or see at all. 

"Great," York said, and scribbled some gibberish on a cup and passed it to the manager. "Now how do I make that?" 

"York. It's an iced coffee." 

"North. You assume I know anything about coffee." 

North took the cup and started on the drink, asking, "Why do you work here, again?" 

"I need money. I'm a broke college kid. You took pity on me because you like my butt." 

North's pale cheeks flamed more than Donut on a Friday night. "That's- that's inappropriate, York." 

York leaned off the counter. "It's true." He turned to Donut. "What do you think? You'd hire me for my butt, wouldn't you?" 

Donut glanced down and had to admit it was admirable, in a concave kind of way. "Decent. I'd hire you for your voice." 

_"Decent?"_ He scoffed. "No appreciation for fine arts or fine asses these days." 

"Honey, you're not 'thicc,' but you are decent," Donut said. "Nothing personal! You've got many more appreciable assets." 

York shrugged and North, returned to his original color now, passed Donut the coffee and looked over at York. "You haven't even rang him up, have you?" 

"Nope!" 

North sighed. "I wish I could say it was his first day. Sorry about this, sir. Your total is $3.78." 

Donut fished a five out of his pocket and passed it to him. That might've been his last five- being a broke college kid was getting tiresome. He suppressed a sigh and accepted his $1.22 in change back and then bade farewell to the manager and employee, who were back to bickering and debating near-parabolic asses. 

Donut moved to sit down and saw, finally, the one other inhabitant of the coffee shop. 

And good Lord, Donut had never seen sunshine till that moment. 

He had forgotten a half-melted caramel frappuccino and become absorbed in the book he read, his eyes trained on the page and studying the words hard. His eyes- Donut didn't even see the color at first, just the light in them. He didn't see at first that the stranger wore a blue shirt, or that he had a dot of whipped cream on his shoulder; Donut saw that the stranger fiddled with his collar in thought. He saw the curve of his lips, turned up as he devoured the words, tensed slightly in focus. 

Donut wouldn't have interrupted such a prominent moment of focus, except- 

The stranger kept rereading the same sentence. 

He lost no enthusiasm in his repeated attempts, but Donut couldn't watch him struggle for that long. Whatever the reason- this stranger deserved to read his book for what it was, enjoy the whole ride, get to the climax, and not suffer all the while. 

He invited himself to the stranger's table. "Hi! Whatcha reading?" 

The stranger looked up and didn't miss a beat or drop his smile in the slightest. "Oh! The Hobbit. It's a really good book, my friend Simmons loaned it to me!" 

"That is a good book," Donut said, offering his warmest smile. "Are you- are you having a hard time reading it?" 

The stranger leaned closer. "I have a hard time with most things." He said it easily, like he said it often, and Donut's tiny, angry gay heart relented to feel an ache for this fellow. He continued, "I'm bad at reading. Letters don't really stay in the same place so it takes me a while to understand words. And then I have to reread each word, and then the sentence, and then it has to make sense- so it takes a while. But it is okay! I like reading." 

Donut didn't know much about dyslexia but he caught what the stranger was describing. "Can I help you with it?" 

"If you would not mind I would really appreciate it." 

Donut smiled and pulled his chair closer, to where he could view the book, and took a sip of his iced coffee and then set it down. "Okay- where are you?" 

He pointed. "Here. I'm Michael Caboose, by the way. Most of my friends call me Caboose." 

"Franklin Delano Donut," Donut said, smiling. "Most of my friends call me... Well. Donut's fine." 

"It's very nice to meet you, Mr. Donut!" 

_That's not a kink. That's not a kink. That's not a-_ "And it's nice to meet you, too, Caboose!" 

"Ah- if it's not too much trouble, would you just read it to me? I have tried a lot of ways to understand the words. It's easier to hear them." 

Donut smiled. "Of course, Caboose." 

Donut followed Caboose's finger and began to read aloud, regaling the tale of Bilbo Baggins to his eager listener. He soon forgot why he came to the coffee shop in the first place, the anxiety and stress he'd been trying to escape. All that existed was coffee, words, and the brightest Sunshine. 

Time ceased to exist in the pastel haven where they dwelled in a fictional world. Their coffee cups ran out and Caboose happily paid to refill them. They drank more coffee and together read the book, swelled to the climatic ending as the sun set, finished the resolution as dusk fell over the city. 

Donut read the last words in his final dramatic tones; he had always been good at reading stories aloud, due to his natural flare for the dramatics, and Caboose proved the best audience he'd ever had. 

They finished the last of their drinks as they ran out of words, and chucked the plastic cups into recycling bins as they walked out the door. Donut paused outside, and Caboose spoke into the dusk. 

"This was really fun. I would- I would really enjoy listening to you read to me again some day. If it is not too much trouble." 

Donut smiled; the sun had set but his view still held so much Sunshine. "Anytime. Here." 

He wrote down his number on the back of his receipt and passed it to Caboose. "Call me if you need _anything._ Someone to talk to, to read to you, whatever you need." 

Caboose gratefully accepted and thanked him, pocketing the number, and then looked up at Donut. "You are a good person." 

He wasn't. Donut knew he wasn't. But he wouldn't say as much to Caboose. "Thank you." 

"Is there anything I can do for you?" 

Donut unintentionally leaned closer to Caboose. "Just being you is enough for me." 

Donut must have had _a look,_ because Caboose's bright eyes widened. Donut hadn't fallen for someone so fast since middle school. It was- ridiculous, frankly, but he knew already he'd do anything to see this guy's smile. 

Caboose whispered, "Is this a date?" 

Donut had to laugh. "Do you want it to be?" 

"If- if you do, I do not mind." 

Donut's eyebrows rose. "Oh- oh. That's... Unexpected." 

"I think it is custom to kiss at the end of dates." 

Oh, how _charming!_ Donut was absolutely in love now, what the fuck. He hadn't thought at all this guy would feel anything for him. But he saw now the sparkle in Caboose's eyes, and maybe- maybe he _didn't_ just always look like that. Maybe it was the result of being around things he enjoyed. Yes- it was the look he'd had when reading, and while talking to Donut, but not while ordering more coffee. _Maybe he just doesn't like York- which, reasonable-_

Caboose had leaned down, and Donut was shocked by how close he suddenly was; he'd been lost in thought and hadn't even noticed and- 

And now that sunshine smile was kissing him. And it was brief, and it was warm, and it was soft, and it was everything Donut could live for. It was quick, and it warmed his shadows already. 

Caboose leaned back. "Was that- was that good?" He dropped his voice again. "I'm not very good at these things." 

Donut was heady. "That was- _wonderful."_

"Oh! Oh, well, good! Perhaps we can do that again sometime!" 

"I hope so." 

"Well, goodnight Mr. Donut! I will call you soon!" 

Donut leaned on a column and watched Caboose walk off. He sent a wave after him. "Goodnight, Caboose! I hope to hear from you soon." 

And the sun had set and Caboose had left and Donut still carried Sunshine on his lips. 

And it wasn't a happy ending- it was a happy beginning. And Donut knew, whatever came next, he'd carry Sunshine with him and live happily.


End file.
